5 Tips To Make Your Bathroom Stand Out to Buyers

One of the rooms that can make or break the sale of your home is the bathroom. You can sell your home more quickly if you can create a bathroom that appeals to potential buyers. This means you will need to stage the space, at a minimum, or possibly put in some real elbow grease.

If you aren’t sure where to begin, here are some tips that are sure to help you sell your house fast!

Advertising

1. Clean Everything

Your first step to creating a bathroom that potential buyers will be excited about is to make sure every nook and cranny is as clean as possible. This often requires more than your standard weekly cleaning, as you want to make sure there is nothing left that could deter buyers from making an offer. This can include wiping underneath your toilet tank, cleaning pipes under sinks, giving the walls a once over, and completely scrubbing all grout.

It is best to assume that a potential buyer will look absolutely everywhere. So look inside, under, and around every fixture and make sure there isn’t something unappealing. A few hairs stuck to the surface of the shower or bathtub can be visually unappealing, so make sure they are gone.

Advertising

2. Replace What Can’t Be Cleaned

In some cases, such as with grout, you may find it easier to replace it instead of clean it. The same can go for bathroom rugs, towels, and shower curtains. While replacing items can be a bigger financial investment, it is better to spend the money than to leave the bathroom looking dingy.

3. Don’t Shy Away from Paint

If your paint has seen better days, this is another area where simply repainting can be preferable. Most bathrooms won’t require a lot of paint to coat the walls, so the investment is often quite reasonable. If your bathroom walls aren’t currently a neutral color, then you may want to even change the color when you repaint. Another thing you may consider painting to give the bathroom more of an uplift is your bathtub. Many bathtubs may have a few stains or discolorations that may be unappealing to look at. The bathtub can be easily fixed and can bring up your bathrooms appearance drastically.

4. Stage It Like A Spa

Now that everything is clean, it is time to consider how to stage your bathroom. It is easy for potential buyers to feel uncomfortable peering into your bathroom. To help them get past that initial reaction, you need to make the space look inviting. The easiest design to mimic for staging is anything that brings to mind a spa-like experience. Focus on soft colors and natural accent pieces. Wood, plants, and stones can work incredibly well. Candles are also a popular choice, though make sure the scent isn’t overpowering

Invest in sets of white towels simply for display. This helps increase the spa feel and makes the space seem cleaner, as most people equate bright white linens with cleanliness. You also want to make sure all bathroom supplies are in containers, and not just strewn about the counter. Additionally, anything that can be (neatly) put into a cabinet or drawer likely should be.

Advertising

5. Keep Function With Form

Feel free to leave a few bathroom basics out as long as they are attractive. For example, a hand soap in its plastic supermarket dispenser does not have a lot of visual appeal. However, a glass dispenser with a nice pump can be very attractive and functions as a nice accessory. Focus on creating a space that speaks to idea of relaxation, and you likely can’t go wrong.

10 Simple Morning Exercises That Will Make You Feel Great All Day

There are lots of studies that show if you do some exercise in the morning, you will be in a better mood all day long. You will have more energy and you will certainly be a better colleague, friend or partner.

One psychologist at Duke University has researched the effects of exercise on depressed patients and he has come to the conclusion that exercise has a definite role in treating this condition and has an important role in preventing people from relapsing.[1] According to the New York Times, scientists have now established that exercise also boosts your brain power.[2]

In addition, there are studies from the Appalachian State University which show that blood pressure can be reduced by doing regular morning exercise.[3]

Here are 10 simple morning exercises that will help you feel great the whole day long. You can include some of them in your morning exercise routine or do them all at home without having to enrol in a gym. Consult your doctor before starting any form of exercise routine if you are new to this.

1. Cat Camel Stretch

Stretching exercises are useful for muscle toning and also preventing arthritis. They can either be dynamic or static.

Dynamic ones such as the cat camel stretch, are particularly useful for doing other exercises in the morning. They are also beneficial at other times of the day, especially after long periods of sedentary work. This one is great for spinal flexibility and is a good warm up exercise.

Kneel down on all fours. Start by rounding your back just like a camel so that your head will try to meet your pelvis. This is the camel position. Then lower and lift your head so that your lower back is arched. This is the cat position. Do these movements slowly and smoothly. About 4 or 5 times.

Here’s a video to guide you through:

Advertising

2. Go for a Walk or a Run

This is better done outside so that you can connect with nature but running inside on a treadmill is almost as good. You can time yourself and increase length and time according to your fitness program.

Always have new goals to reach. Start with brisk walking and work up to running. At my age, I am still walking!

The health benefits are considerable. You can build stronger bones and you can help to maintain your weight.

3. Jumping Jacks

Michelle Obama is a great fan of this exercise and has become “Jumper in Chief.”[4] They are great for cardiovascular health and also for toning muscles especially the calves and the deltoids.

Stand with feet together. Jump while spreading your arms and legs. Return to first position and keep going! You can start with doing these for 1 minute and then gradually build up to the number you are comfortable with. Here’s how:

4. Abductor Side Lifts

Watch the video below to see how to do this exercise. These muscles are important because you use them everyday to run, get into the car or onto and off a bicycle. They are very important also for your core stability and prevent the pelvis from tilting.[5]

Advertising

Do about 10 to 15 raises for each side like this:

5. Balancing Table Pose

This is a classic yoga pose. It benefits the spine, balance, memory and concentration.

Start with the table pose (hands and knees). Breathe in before starting each movement. As you exhale, raise your left leg parallel to the floor as you raise the right arm, also parallel to the floor. Breathe in as you lower arm and leg. Repeat for the other side. 10 repetitions on each side is a good starting point.

Stand with your feet a bit further out from your hips. Arms are out in front of you. Then lower yourself as if you wanted to sit down until you reach a 90 degree angle. You can go down further if you want to. Then return to the starting position. Repeat 15 times for 2 sets for beginners.

The benefits are that these exercises help with knee stability and can benefit the leg muscles such as quadriceps, hamstrings and calves.[6]

7. Push Ups

You start lying down (face down) but with your body held up at arm’s length. Your hands should be in line with your shoulders. Breathe in as you lower your body. That is fairly easy. Now, as you exhale, you have to get back up to the starting position.

Advertising

An easier version to start with is to bend your legs at the knees so you do not have to lift your whole body.

Beginners may take up to a month to be able to do 100 push ups so you will have to start with a very small number and gradually increase it.

This exercise is great for strengthening the chest, shoulders and the triceps. It is a great strengthening exercise for many muscle groups. In fact, most muscles from the toes to the shoulders are being used.

8. Bicycle Crunches

There are numerous crunch exercises targeting the abs. The bicycle crunch is a variation where you work more muscle groups. Aim for 15 to 20 reps to start off with.

Watch the video to see how this is done correctly:

9. Lunges

Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Place your hand on your hips. Take one giant step forward with the right leg. Make sure the knee does not go too far forward, that is, past your toes. The left knee will go down to almost floor level. Alternate the legs as you go on.

Try to do a set of between 8 and 12 reps for each leg. It is important to allow for a day of rest, so this exercise should be done on alternate days, especially if you are using weights.

This exercise is great for strengthening and toning the quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings.

Advertising

10. Bicep Curls

You can do this sitting down so if you spend a lot of time on the phone, this is a great exercise to do.

Choose suitable dumbbells or another household object that you can easily hold. Sit down with the dumbbell in your hand. You need to sit forward a bit so that your triceps can lean on your thigh to give you support.

Then bring the weighted arm up to shoulder length and then down again. Exhale as you lift the weight and inhale as you lower it.

Here’re some important notes before you start doing this exercise:

Try to do one or two sets of about ten repetitions for each arm and then switch arms.

These exercises are really useful for toning the arm muscles.[7]In addition, they can strengthen and tone the brachioradialis muscle located in the forearm. These are the muscles we use to pick up things when we flex the arm at the elbow so we use these muscles countless times a day.

You may have to build in a rest day for the heavier exercises, numbers 6–10. On the rest days, you can do gentler stretching exercises and also some walking or running.

Morning exercise is not only a great mood booster, but will help you keep your weight down and also sleep better![8] Start including one or some of these exercises in your morning routine!